Jason Bard (New Earth)
| Identity = Public | Alignment = Good | Affiliation = | Relatives = Rose Bard (mother, deceased) Unnamed Father (deceased) | Universe = Earth-One; New Earth | BaseOfOperations = Gotham City | Gender = Male | Height = 6'0" | Weight = 175 lbs | Eyes = Brown | Hair = Brown | UnusualFeatures = | Citizenship = American | MaritalStatus = Single | Occupation = Private Detective | Creators = Frank Robbins; Gil Kane | First = Detective Comics #392 | Last = Red Robin Vol 1 21 | Quotation = | Speaker = | QuoteSource = | HistoryText = Earth-One Jason Bard was raised by a kind mother, Rose Bard, and an abusive father. Bard nursed a grudge against his father after the man killed Rose, and Jason became determined to capture the criminal when he grew up. After being summoned to the Vietnam War where he received a crippling injury to his right knee, Bard returned to Gotham City where he got a degree in criminology. Using his knowledge, he tracked down his father, but the man died during the ensuing confrontation. Afterwards, Bard started working as a private investigator in Gotham City. In this line of work, he met Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Police Commissioner Gordon, and he dated her for a short period of time while also working with her alter-ego, Batgirl, not knowing the truth behind her secret identity. Bard and Batgirl teamed-up on various occasions and solved crimes with each other's assistance. When Barbara was elected for Congress, their relationship ended and while Barbara moved to Washington, Jason stayed in Gotham, working in his own private detective agency. Later, Bard started working on the case of the Shotgun Sniper, and his investigations led him to New York City, as he suspected Kirk Langstrom to be the criminal. However, his deductions were wrong, and he was forced to fight Man-Bat. When Bard realized Man-Bat was also looking for the killer, they worked together to bring down the criminal, agreeing to split the reward after the killer was captured. Partnerships After his encounter with Man-Bat in New York, Bard was visited at his home in Gotham by Langstrom, who wanted to become his partner. Bard turned Langstrom down, but during a mission to capture a terrorist organization, Bard succeeded thanks to Langstrom's intervention. While fighting the criminals, Bard also learned that Langstrom was Man-Bat and they agreed to work together. Bard and Man-Bat became a perfect team-up, as they solved several crimes in Gotham City. Eventually, Man-Bat left the detective job and Bard started looking for a new partner. Coincidentally, James Gordon was forced to resign to the GCPD by the new Mayor of Gotham Hamilton Hill, and thanks to his connections with Barbara, Bard convinced Gordon to join him as his partner. They stared to investigate the election of Hill and it led them to the reporter Olivia Ortega, who provided them with evidence of the documents used to make Hill win the election. Bard and Gordon interrogated several suspects, but they were soon attacked by members of the GCPD under the instructions of Commissioner Pauling. Not long afterwards, James Gordon was reinstated as Police Commissioner and Bard continued his work as private detective without partners. On his last known mission, Bard helped Bruce Wayne discover the origin of the member of the Outsiders called Halo. New Earth Jason Bard was a police officer with the Gotham City Police Department working under James Gordon. This is where he met Barbara Gordon for the first time. Jason received a knee injury when Killer Moth shot him in the knee at Lance Investigations, which was owned by Larry Lance. The injury forced Jason to leave the GCPD and pursue other ventures. It was after this that he opened up his own private investigations and his relationship with Barbara began. The two dated for sometime and they were even engaged to be married at one point. After she was shot and paralyzed by the Joker, Barbara felt that Jason could not protect her and broke off their engagement. They would not meet again for several years. Batman hired Jason to track down the family of Halo, who was an amnesiac. Jason helped the Outsiders by using old yearbooks to track down Margaret and Samuel Harper in Missouri. Barbara (now known as Oracle), sent Black Canary on a mission to the island of Rheelasia. While she was here, she saw Jason, who was using the fake identity of Reed Montel and now appeared to be on the other side of the law. As it turns out, Jason was working undercover, as he was contracted by a family to find Brendan Fiske and Daria Fiske. They were kidnapped and taken to Rheelasia, but when they attempted to escape, they were killed. Black Canary was captured and Jason had to give up his cover and identity to try and save her. After Jason's identity was revealed to the kidnappers, they attacked him and Jason was knocked unconscious. Both he and Black Canary were captured and forced to work in the fields on the island. Black Canary was planning to escape with Jason's help, but it was revealed that the attack caused Jason to lose his eyesight and he would be unable to help her escape the island. Together the two were able to escape the island after a fight with Hellhound and some Rheelasian mercenaries. Jason learned to deal with his blindness pretty well, and he continued to operate his private investigation agency. Jason made contact with Barbara because he said that he missed her and missed talking to her. Barbara was not very interested; however, she suggested the two of them develop a professional relationship. She offered to call him with information when she had any or when she had a job that he could do for her. Jason came to visit her and he learned for the first time about her paralysis and why Babs broke off their engagement. Some time later Barbara came to Jason's offices offering him a job. Jason underwent several operations to cure his blindness and they worked; he had his full vision back. While Barbara was there, Jason confessed that he still felt very strongly about her, but she could not offer the same to him. According to Jason, there was not "a woman alive that could make me forget her." He decided to mask his feelings for her and accept the job that she was offering him. Barbara sent Jason to Cannes to keep an eye on Black Canary. While there, he was attacked on the beach by three men and easily defeated them. Jason was to look into the man who Dinah was now dating. Jason discovered that the man was Ra's al Ghul and he captured Jason and took him aboard his boat. With Black Canary vouching for him, Jason was allowed to leave Ra's boat and went back to his hotel with Dinah. He told her that her new boyfriend was Ra's Al Ghul, but she refused to believe Jason and Barbara. Dinah returned to Ra's and Jason was instructed to leave Cannes and that Barbara would help Dinah. One Year Later After Batman's return from a year-long tour of the world, the Bat-Signal was shown in the sky for the first time in over a year, and many Gotham City citizens responded with joy, while other less scrupulous citizens were nervous about it. Jason Bard had no idea that Batman was back. Soon after, Batman appeared in Bard's home late at night, offering him a flush, weekly retainer to act as Batman's investigator during the daylight hours. Bard accepted, and handed over a folder of evidence to convict the woman he had just slept with of killing her husband. Jason's first task was to investigate the disappearance of the super-villain Orca. His investigation revealed that Orca was married to Terry Capshaw. Jason met with Terry to find out what he could about Orca's disappearance. During their conversation, Terry was shot and killed by the Tally Man, who then shot Jason in the arm as he reached for his gun. As Jason lied on the floor, the Tally Man aimed his gun and fired, but Jason was able to knock him down. Using his cane and karate, Jason subdued the Tally Man and called Batman to inform the Dark Knight of his progress, only to learn that Harvey Dent was, once again, Two-Face. A few weeks later, Batman went missing and Robin asked Jason Bard if he had any information on Batman's location, but Jason knew as much as Robin. Some time later, Bard went on a date with police officer Jamie Harper. | Powers = | Abilities = * * * * | Weaknesses = | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = | Notes = * Pre-Crisis, Jason received his limp in the Vietnam War. This was updated in Batgirl: Year One. | Trivia = | Wikipedia = Jason Bard | DC = None | Links = }} Category:Private Investigators Category:Barbara Gordon's Love Interests